The Film Programme

BBC Radio 4

4.5 (54)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights from the film world

09/30/2021

The Last Picture Show

Francine Stock and Antonia Quirke co-present the final edition of The Film Programme. They discuss the future of cinema in the age of streaming, and hear from David Oyelowo, Matt Damon, Rebecca O'Brien and Sally Potter. They also reveal their favourite last scenes in the history of the movies.

56 min
09/23/2021

Chris Menges, Local Hero

With Antonia Quirke Oscar winning cinematographer and director Chris Menges takes us behind the scenes of Local Hero, The Mission and Kes, and reveals how he ended up in a Zanzibar prison with Michael Parkinson. Bait director Mark Jenkin records his last audio diary about the making of his horror movie, Enys Men, which was delayed by a year because of lockdown and was filmed during the pandemic. Listeners nominate their favourite final scenes and composer Neil Brand chooses his two favourite end pieces: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Cabaret. Sweetheart director Marley Morrison nominates her favourite final scene - the brief encounter in Andrew Haigh's debut Weekend. And thank you to all of you who nominated your favourite final scene. We didn't have time to mention them all on air, so here is the complete list: Algiers Animal House Being There Be Kind, Rewind Big Night Billy Elliot Bright Star Capernaum Casablanca Chinatown Cinderella Cold War Death In Venice Empire Of The Sun Ex Machina 400 Blows Genevieve Gloria Goodbye Mr Chips Ice Cold In Alex James And The Giant Peach Local Hero Los Silensios Michael Clayton Midnight Run Monsoon Wedding Nostalgia Of Gods And Men O Lucky Man ! On The Waterfront Orlando Pan's Labyrinth Pepe Le Moko Rocks Sideways Some Like It Hot Stalker System Crasher The Apartment The Battle Of Algiers The Deer Hunter The Leopard The Lives Of Others The Long Good Friday The Mermaid The Mission The Purple Rose Of Cairo The Seventh Seal The Silence Of The Lambs The Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 The Third Man The Usual Suspects This Is Spinal Tap Tunes Of Glory Un Coeur En Hiver Withnail And I Witness

34 min
09/20/2021

Emma Thomas: How Batman Began

With Antonia Quirke Producer Emma Thomas reveals the conversation she had with partner Christopher Nolan that led to the making of Batman Begins, the film the changed the course of the superhero movie. Robert Shaw's son Ian takes us behind some of the scenes in Jaws that form the basis of his new play The Shark Is Broken, and explains why the famous Indianapolis speech had to be filmed twice In his last ever diary entry before the programme ends on September 30th, cinema owner Kevin Markwick explains why Bond movies have always been important to the survival of The Uckfield Picturehouse; this year more than ever before.

28 min
09/14/2021

Mark Gatiss: Anthony Hopkins superfan

Mark Gatiss tells Antonia Quirke what it was like to work with his hero Anthony Hopkins on The Father, and how he persuaded him to reprise a famous scene from one of his classic films as a birthday present for fellow League Of Gentleman member Reece Shearsmith. Sean Barton reveals some secrets from the editing suite and how he made the audience gasp in a famous scene from Jagged Edge. Annette director Leos Carax explains why the star of his film about a two year old singing sensation is played by a puppet.

35 min
09/02/2021

Maria Djurkovic

With Antonia Quirke You might think that fewer movies would be made during a pandemic, with continual testing and all the restrictions on social distancing. In fact, the British film industry has never been busier, and production designer Maria Djurkovic explains why that's the case. Script supervisor Angela Allen reveals all the unpaid jobs she did during her five decades in the film industry, from second unit director to editorial consultant to Katherine Hepburn's double in The African Queen. The directors of Shorta, Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olholm, tell Antonia why their thriller about a riot in a housing estate is very different from the typical Danish movie.

28 min
08/26/2021

Hossein Amini on Heat

In the final edition of Moving Image, Francine Stock talks to Hossein Amini about the film that has obsessed him since the first time he saw it in 1995. Heat was the first film to bring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together in the same scene and it's had an influence on the writer of Drive, The Wings Of A Dove and McMafia ever since.

28 min
08/19/2021

Jude Law, Ayten Amin and Mark Jenkin

Jude Law talks about his latest release The Nest, a suspenseful family drama set in Surrey in the 1980s, what he really likes about making movies and what acting in Contagion taught him about pandemics. Egyptian director Ayten Amin describes working with non-professional actors in her feature film Souad about young girls and their relation with social media. Mark Jenkin's filmmaking audio diary continues with his experiences shooting smoking chimneys and mantlepieces. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Harry Parker

28 min
08/12/2021

Alvin Rakoff

With Antonia Quirke 94 year old director Alvin Rakoff talks about giving Sean Connery his big break, why his friend Peter Sellers wired his home for sound and what it was like directing Laurence Olivier in A Voyage Around My Father Author Anna Cale and historian Matthew Sweet talk about the phenomenon that was Diana Dors and reveal how her life would have changed if she had only married Bob Monkhouse.

28 min

See All (599)

Antonia Quirke

Host
Francine Stock

Host
Chris Menges

Guest
Emma Thomas

Guest
Rebecca O'Brien

Guest
Thomas Vinterberg

Guest
Aleem Khan

Guest
Ben Whishaw

Guest

4.5

out of 5

54 Ratings

Always good

03/24/2021

lilithorin

Love Antonia and Francine but I’m very much missing all of the other (pre-Covid) contributors. Personally, I can’t get enough of holiday DVD swap or hearing Tim and Larushka discuss ANY film.
great show

08/30/2016

Tom Morkes

Really interesting show. Love the topics they cover and the insightful perspectives
Some good topics and film journalism

11/21/2017

Marco Polo Mint

I’ve been listening to this for years. Francine Stock the presenter is seasoned and a great interviewer. It’s a small show with quite some pull, getting big name interviewees from film promotion junkets. Scorsese and Schoonmaker for example, but also smaller indie filmmakers and directors. There are features in costume, production design, Foley artists, and a strong concentration of stories from the British film industry. Whereas press junkets often involve rote responses to standard questions, the interviewers here ask more provocative questions. Critics also turn up regularly, and one of my favorite features is when a rerelease of an older film can be revisited and re-evaluated. Not always interesting, but there’s usually a segment that should interest everyone.
Effing Orange!

04/15/2010

CPK80

All Right Merchant!